The White House and House Democrats have reached a new North America trade deal. The new agreement is set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). To discuss, we FEATURE Alyshia Galvez, PhD. Dr. Galvez is a cultural and medical anthropologist and professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College of the City University of New York. She is the author of a new book entitled Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies and the Destruction of Mexico (UC Press, 2018) on changing food policies, systems and practices in Mexico and Mexican communities in the United States, including the ways they are impacted by trade and economic policy, and their public health implications. Media includes: The New York Times, Forbes, NPR.

A new policy, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), will allow 2.1 million federal workers to get paid parental leave for the first time. To discuss, we FEATURE Vicki Shabo. Shabo is an expert on workplace gender equity and work/family policies in the United States, including paid family and medical leave and equal pay. As a strategist and analyst, she is steeped in both policy details and the political dynamics that typically surround policymakers’ consideration of these policies. Over the last decade, Shabo has been deeply involved in the development and enactment of federal, state and local workplace policies affecting tens of millions of working people. Media includes: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, CNN, CBS, NPR, MSNBC. 

On Tuesday new legislation was introduced that would hold tech companies accountable for an explosion in online child sex abuse material. The bill will make tech companies hold onto illegal photos and videos for longer so that law enforcement has more time to gather evidence. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Pierce-Weeks. Pierce-Weeks is Chief Executive Officer for the International Association of Forensic Nurses, where she implemented the adult/adolescent online SANE training and learning management system. She presents nationally on a variety of forensic nursing-related topics, including sexual assault and abuse, intimate partner violence, strangulation, child maltreatment and program sustainability. Pierce-Weeks co-authored The Clinical Management of Children and Adolescents Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence: Technical Considerations for PEPFAR Programs. Media includes: Teen Vogue, Health, Cosmopolitan, CNN.  

An analysis recently released by Bloomberg shows that the U.S. government's distrust of China has branched out to a distrust of Chinese Americans, showing that Chinese American federal contractors were less likely to get security clearances and that they were more likely to be accused of being spies. To discuss, we FEATURE Karin Wang. Wang is the Executive Director of UCLA School of Law's David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. In that role, she heads the nation’s leading academic program focused on training the next generation of lawyers working in nonprofit, advocacy, and government sectors. Previously, she was the Vice-President of Programs & Communications for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, the nation’s largest legal organization for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Media includes: The New York Times, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, New Republic, Orange County Register.   

President Trump has signed an executive order that would define Judaism as a nationality as a way to pull funding from college campuses that are deemed to be anti-semitic for allowing demonstrations against Israel on their campuses.. To discuss, we FEATURE Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum. Rabbi Kleinbaum has been the Senior Rabbi of New York City's Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (CBST) since 1992. Under her leadership, CBST has become an important voice in Judaism, in the world-wide discourse on the nature of religious community, and in the movement to secure basic civil rights for gay people everywhere. Rabbi Kleinbaum's education and experience cut across all varieties of contemporary Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and secular activist. Media includes: The Forward, Jewish Week, The New York Times. 

A federal judge has stopped the Trump administration from using $3.6 billion in military funds to build a border wall. To discuss, we FEATURE Elianne Ramos. Ramos is the Senior Director for Public Affairs and Communications at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Between 2008-2016, she served as the Principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and Founder of the Border Kids Relief Project. Media includes: USA Today, ABC/Univision, Fusion, Fox Business News, The Huffington Post, Voice of America, Latina Magazine, NBC Latino, CNN.

Uber recently released its first safety report, which revealed nearly 6,000 reports of sexual assaults by drivers and passengers. To discuss how Uber and other companies can improve their sexual misconduct policies, we FEATURE Lisa M. Brauner, Esq. Brauner's practice focuses on the area of employment law, specifically advising and representing employers in workplace law-related matters. She counsels and advises employers in many aspects of the employment relationship, including avoidance of litigation, wage/hour compliance, preventing unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, reductions-in-force, lawful hiring and terminations, disability, pregnancy and religious reasonable accommodation issues, as well as compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations. Extensive media experience.     

The UK general election is December 12. To discuss, we FEATURE Terri Givens. Givens is a Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. As a scholar, she focuses on the global politics of immigration, European politics, international relations and party politics. She joined The University of Texas at Austin as a government professor in 2003. Her publications include Voting Radical Right in Western Europe, Immigration Policy and Security and Legislating Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe. Media includes: BBC, PBS, NPR. 

The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) allowed Boeing 737 Max aircrafts to continue flying despite reviews finding serious crash risks with the aircraft. To discuss, we FEATURE Kathryn Denise Rucker Krepp. Krepp is a homeland security, transportation, and sexual assault expert who began her career as an active duty Coast Guard officer in 1998. After September 11, 2001, Krepp was a member of the team that created the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Media includes: Washington Post, Journal of Commerce, Tradewinds, Jezebel, The Hill, American Shipper, Maritime Executive, Chronicle of Higher Education.

A statue of a young African American man was recently unveiled in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy. To discuss, we FEATURE Lessie Branch, PhD. Branch is Associate Professor in the School for Business at Metropolitan College of New York. She is a Racial Policy Scholar, a Fulbright Specialist in Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Politics, Senior Research Fellow at the DuBois Bunche Center for Public Policy at Medgar Evers College and a Scholar with Scholars Strategy Network. She is the author of Optimism At All Costs: Black Attitudes, Activism, and Advancement in Obama’s America. Her research examines the gulf between Black optimism about group progress and the actual data on continuing disparities and potentially speaks to wider questions of social knowledge, social beliefs and relative group position Media includes: The New York Times, City and State, The Center for Public Integrity.